festi hf.
Main achievements
The Lyfja business has become part of the Festi Group since July 1, 2024.
Merchandise sales amounted to ISK 44,257 million, an increase of ISK 6,923 million or 18.5%, or 6.4% excluding the impact of Lyfja, compared to the previous year.
Gross profit from sales of goods and services amounted to ISK 10,829 million, an increase of ISK 2,255 million or 26.3% year-on-year, and 9.6% excluding the impact of Lyfja.
Profit margin from sales of goods and services was 24.5%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the third quarter of 2023 and an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the second quarter of 2024.
Salaries and other personnel costs were ISK 4,826 million, an increase of 31.3% or 8.8% excluding the impact of Lyfja.
EBITDA amounted to ISK 4,741 million, an increase of ISK 836 million or 21.4% year-on-year. Excluding the impact of Refia, it would have increased by 9.3%.
Earnings for the quarter were ISK 2,232 million, representing a return on sales of 20.6% and an increase of ISK 416 million year-on-year.
Net cash provided by operating activities was ISK 4,643 million, representing a return on sales of 42.9% (compared to ISK 3,383 million in the same period last year).
At the end of the third quarter of 2024, the capital amounted to 40,434 million ISK, and the equity ratio was 35.7%.
The 2024 EBITDA outlook increases by 400 million ISK to 12,700-13,100 million ISK.
Asta S. Felsted, CEO:
The company’s management has exceeded expectations. Improvements were seen in all areas of the business, with increases in customer visits, products sold and liters of fuel sold. Profit margins for all companies in the group strengthened, increasing by 1.5 percentage points year on year, or 0.7 percentage points excluding Lyfja. This is the same level of profit margin achieved in the previous quarter. We are very pleased with the results, which show that the cost measures we took to improve our profit margins were successful.
Lyfja has been part of our business since July 1 and had sales of goods and services of ISK 4,549 million in the quarter. Lyfja’s EBITDA was ISK 473 million and profit was ISK 186 million. As Lyfja is a new addition to the group, financial comparisons between years are difficult.
Festi’s operating profit (EBITDA) amounted to ISK 4,741 million. (Q3 2023: 3,905 million ISK), an increase of 21.4% from the previous year. Third-quarter profit was ISK 2,232 million, an increase of ISK 416 million year-on-year. The outlook for the final quarter of this year is positive, with EBITDA guidance for 2024 increasing by ISK 400 million to ISK 12,700-13,100 million.
the story continues
Main projects from this quarter onwards:
Festi and Oris have begun the formal sale process of their holdings in Oriud Life EHF. September 26th. Olíudreifing is 60% owned by Festi and 40% by Olis. The company is an important infrastructure company in fuel inventory and distribution in Iceland. Íslandsbanki Corporate Finance has been entrusted with managing the sales process. Further information regarding the progress of the sales process will be provided as soon as required.
Karen Ósk Gylfadóttir was hired as Lyfja’s Managing Director on October 11 and is currently a member of Festi’s Executive Board. For the past three years, she has served as Managing Director of Product, Marketing and Digital Development at Lyfja. Karen Øsk will take over from Hildur Thorisdóttir, who has been acting CEO since summer 2023 alongside her work as Human Resources Director. Mr. Hildur was employed by Festi as a Human Resources Manager.
Lyfja’s office will move to Festi’s headquarters in Dalvegur in early November. The transfer will combine the support services of both companies as part of several projects they are working on to achieve synergies with the Lyfja acquisition. Projects have varying timelines, but the majority of the projects are estimated to be completed within the next 12 months.
ELKO’s largest store will open in Lindir tomorrow, October 31st, after extensive renovations and changes. All sales declines at Lindil during the construction period were transferred to ELKO’s other stores, which showed significant year-over-year increases.
The position of Managing Director of N1 is now open and the recruitment process will begin in the next few days.
Three automatic car wash stations have opened in Ganvegur, Reykjargata and Strikjari, and the number of charging stations has continued to increase in cooperation with Tesla, which opened Iceland’s largest charging park on the N1 of Reykjanes Airport in early September. N1 also installed new fast charging stations in Eylstadir, Ísafjörur, Southerkurkur and Bronduos during the quarter.
Renovation work has begun on Bíldshofði’s Krónan store and the stylish and improved store is expected to open at the end of November or December.
The progress of Cronan’s Smart Store continues, with the start of home delivery service to residents of the highland region of Alnesisla in the quarter, and Smart Store sales increased by more than 40% year over year.
The company is growing bigger and stronger. We will continue to focus on improving revenue growth, containing costs and increasing efficiency to increase profitability and reduce unit costs across the group.
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